Fluid Flow in The Oil Pumping System of A Hermetic

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Fluid Flow in the Oil Pumping System of a Hermetic Compressor
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2015 IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 90 012028
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9th International Conference on Compressors and their Systems IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 90 (2015) 012028 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/90/1/012028
Fluid Flow in the Oil Pumping System of a Hermetic

Compressor
S Posch1, E Berger1, M Heimel1, J Hopfgartner1, R Almbauer1 and P Schöllauf2

1
Graz University of Technology, 8010 Graz, Austria
2
Secop Austria GmbH, 8280 Fürstenfeld, Austria
posch@ivt.tugraz.at
Abstract. This work deals with the investigation of the oil pumping system in
hermetic compressors for refrigeration application. The oil pump which is used for this study
consists of two pumping areas: the lower pumping area with a pick-up tube and an eccentric
bore, and the upper pumping area with a helical groove. This study focuses on the helical
groove in the upper pumping area. To analyse the fluid flow in the helical groove, a
numerical approach is introduced. In this approach the Navier-Stokes equations are adapted
to the problem and are solved by using the finite volume method. Compared to analytical
models, this method is able to obtain the flow field in the cross section of the helical
groove at higher resolution. The higher geometrical resolution also enables the analysis of
the flow in the small gap between the rotating crankshaft and the stationary wall. The present
method is used to quantify different operating parameters on the oil mass flow rate.
Nomenclature
Roman symbols
𝑒 gap width 𝑤 velocity component in z-direction
𝑔𝑥 body force in x-direction 𝑥 channel cross-section coordinate
𝑔𝑦 body force in y-direction 𝑦 channel cross-section coordinate
𝑔𝑧 body force in z-direction 𝑧 down channel coordinate
𝑛 rotational speed Greek symbols
𝑝 pressure 𝛼 helix angle
𝑢 velocity component in x-direction 𝜇 dynamic viscosity
𝑣 velocity component in y-direction 𝜌 density
1. Introduction
The oil supply in hermetic reciprocating compressors for refrigeration application is usually provided
by integrated pumping devices on the compressor crankshaft. Two different pumping systems are
widely used in hermetic compressors: the helical pump and the centrifugal pump. These two pumping
systems can be used separately or in combination. Based on the significant influence of the oil supply
system on the reliability and the thermal behaviour of a compressor, a number of studies has been
carried out and published which deals with the investigation of this system. In addition to experimental
investigations, mathematical approaches are used to describe the fluid flow of oil pumping devices.
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
These approaches can be divided into analytical (or semi-analytical) methods and methods based on
computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
Numerical studies using commercial software (FLUENT) were carried out in [1] and [2]. The
two-phase flow was simulated in three dimensions with the Volume of Fluid technique. The authors
investigated characteristic parameters for the operation behaviour like the oil climbing time, the time
to reach steady-state conditions or the oil mass flow rate. The focus in these studies was on the whole
oil supply system which resulted in a significant large number of grid cells and a high computational
time. Therefore, CFD simulations of the whole oil path are used to investigate existing models and
they are not appropriate for the use in the design phase of hermetic compressors. A simplified
uncoupled simulation model was presented in [3]. The authors split up the oil path and simulated only
the helical pump using commercial software (CFX). The results of the calculated oil mass flow rate
depending on the compressor speed and the immersion depth showed good agreement with
experimental data in addition to a relatively low computational time of two hours.
Several analytical or semi-analytical models to describe the oil flow in hermetic reciprocating
compressors were published in the open literature. In [4], a direct analogy between compressor oil
flow and an electric circuit has been utilized. The authors analogized the individual lubrication
elements by equivalent electric elements and formed an electric circuit which was solved by numerical
methods. The calculated results of the oil flow rate showed good agreement with measured data. An
analytical solution of an isothermal, Newtonian flow in a single screw extruder was developed in [5].
The authors adapted the Navier-Stokes equation to a finite channel with specified boundary
conditions. To solve the resulting Poisson equation they applied the finite sine-transformation method.
A comparison with experimental data from published literature showed satisfying accuracy of the
presented solution. Based on the models presented in [5], [6] used a generalized integral transform
technique (GITT) to solve the Poisson equation. The authors investigated the effects of screw
geometry parameters on the oil mass flow rate. In [7], the same analytical solution was used to couple
a screw channel pump and the shaft channel region. In this study the analytical model was compared
on the one hand with experimental data to verify the calculated oil mass flow rate, and on the other
hand with CFD data to verify the oil climbing time.
The base for the model developed in this study is the oil supply system of a hermetic reciprocating
compressor for refrigeration application shown in Figure 1. The compressor operates in ON/OFF
mode with constant speed. The oil supply system consists of two pumping areas: the lower pump is
partially immersed in the oil sump and consists of a centrifugal pump, and the upper pump consists of
a helical groove machined on the surface of the crankshaft.
Figure 1. The crankshaft with the integrated oil pumping system.
The purpose of the present paper is the modeling of the flow in the helical groove of a hermetic
compressor oil pump at higher resolution compared to analytical models. The relationship between the
flow field in the cross section of the channel and the resulting oil mass flow rate is pointed out.
Furthermore, the small gap between the crank shaft and the barrel wall is considered. The method is
used to quantify the influence of different operating conditions (speed, oil viscosity) and geometric
parameters (helix angle, gap width) on the mass flow rate.
2
2. Problem Formulation
The numerical modeling of the oil flow in the helical groove is based on the steady-state governing
equations of motion in rectangular coordinates. Assuming that the fluid is isothermal, incompressible,
Newtonian and has constant properties, the equations for laminar flow (the Reynolds-Number for this
problem is approximately 250) are given by:
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕2𝑢 𝜕2𝑢 𝜕2𝑢

𝜌 �𝑢 +𝑣 +𝑤 �=− + 𝜇 � 2 + 2 + 2 � + 𝜌𝑔𝑥 (1)
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕 𝑣 𝜕 𝑣 𝜕2𝑣
2 2
𝜌 �𝑢 +𝑣 +𝑤 �=− + 𝜇 � 2 + 2 + 2 � + 𝜌𝑔𝑦 (2)
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕2𝑤 𝜕2𝑤 𝜕2𝑤
𝜌 �𝑢 +𝑣 +𝑤 �=− + 𝜇 � 2 + 2 + 2 � + 𝜌𝑔𝑧 (3)
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕
In order to simplify the problem, the cross section in the middle of the helical groove is investigated.
The channel is considered to be unwrapped and the helical channel is assumed to make one full turn
on the crankshaft, so the area of the cross sections expands half distance until a virtual neighboring
channel. Figure 2 shows the volume of the channel with the position of the cross section and the
unwrapped geometry with the coordinate system.
Figure 2. The position of the cross-section in the channel and the unwrapped geometry.
The following assumptions are made for the present problem: (i) the flow field is fully developed in
z-direction and (ii) the body forces in y-direction are neglected. With these assumptions the above
equations can be reduced to:
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕2𝑢 𝜕2𝑢
𝜌 �𝑢 +𝑣 �=− + 𝜇 � 2 + 2 � + 𝜌𝑔𝑥 (4)
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕 𝑣 𝜕2𝑣
2
𝜌 �𝑢 +𝑣 �=− + 𝜇 � 2 + 2� (5)
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕2𝑤 𝜕2𝑤
𝜌 �𝑢 +𝑣 �=− + 𝜇 � 2 + 2 � + 𝜌𝑔𝑧 (6)
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕
Due to the assumption that the flow is fully developed in z-direction, the cross-section flow is
independent of the transport velocity w and the equations (4) and (5) can be solved in a
two-dimensional domain. The transport velocity w depends on the flow field in the domain and is
treated like a passive scalar. The pressure term in the z-momentum equation can be neglected, if the
3
pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of the channel is zero. The flow field in the cross-
section is modeled with the finite volume method [8] using a grid with approximately 5000 cells. An
evaluation concerning the mesh size has shown that there is no significant deviation between two grids
with 5000 and 8000 cells, respectively. Below a grid size of 4000 cells significant deviations could be
observed. The SIMPLE algorithm [9] applied on staggered grids in x- and y-direction is used for the
pressure-velocity coupling. The discretization of the diffusion term is done by using the central
differencing scheme and the discretization of the convective term is done by using the second order
upwind scheme. Under-relaxation factors for pressure and velocity are implemented to get stable
computations. The inclined walls in the cross-section are modeled with fine steps to get higher
geometrical resolution. Figure 3 shows the computational domain and the set of boundary conditions
which take the relative motion between the crankshaft and the barrel wall into account. The relative
motion is modeled with the classical pumping model [10] where the screw channel walls are stationary
and the barrel surface becomes a flat plate moving with constant velocity. The boundaries at both sides
in the gap are modeled with periodic boundaries.
Figure 3. The computational domain with boundary conditions.
The net mass flow is calculated with the total mass flow in z-direction and the mass flow through the
gap in x-direction.
3. Results
A fundamental set of input parameters is defined to verify the present model. The input parameters are
related to the geometrical parameters of the investigated crankshaft and the operation parameters are
adjusted to the conditions at an oil pump test bench. Table 1 shows the input parameters for the basic
version. The test bench is able to measure the oil mass flow rate at different submersion depths of the
crankshaft at constant rotational speed. An uncoupled investigation of the helical groove from the rest
of the oil path is not possible, a fact which should be considered in the comparison between the
calculated and the measured results. Due to the neglect of the pressure difference between inlet and
outlet, the influence of submersion depth is not regarded in the numerical model and thus the
validation with only one measuring point of the test bench is not meaningful. Two measuring points at
different submersion depths are used to define a mass flow range. Table 2 shows the comparison
between the calculated mass flow rate of the basic version and the measured mass flow rate. The
considerable deviation between the calculation and the measurement can be explained by the neglect
of the pressure term in z-direction. The pressure term would include the influence of the lower
centrifugal pump which results in a higher pressure at the inlet compared to the outlet and an increase
of the mass flow rate.
4
Table 1. Input parameters for the basic Table 2. Comparison between calculated and
version. measured mass flow rate (normalized on basic
Density [kg/m³] 832 version).
Viscosity [cSt] 8 Measured 7 mm submersion depth 1.51
Rotational speed [rpm] 3000 Measured 2 mm submersion depth 1.23
Gap width [mm] 0.1 Calculated basic version 1
Helix angle [°] 49.3
The results of the simulated flow field are shown in Figure 4. The flow field in the gap between the
crankshaft and the stationary wall appears as a simple Couette flow with gravitational influence. In the
area of the channel the flow is diverted by the inclined walls and a vortex occurs. Due to the high
dissipative impact of the oil on the flow the vortex is concentrated mostly on the top right side of the
channel.
Figure 4. Velocity field in the channel cross-section.
After the simulation of the two-dimensional flow field, the calculation of the velocity in z-direction
can be carried out. The result of the simulated w-field is shown in Figure 5. The classical analytical
models ([5], [6] and [7]) solve only the Poisson equation of the velocity in channel direction which
results in a symmetric solution over the channel cross-section. Compared to these models, the present
model includes the influence of the two-dimensional flow field and a non-symmetric distribution of
the w-velocity can be seen. The influence of the above mentioned vortex results in higher values of the
w-velocity, concentrated at a small area at the top right of the domain. A comparison between the
simulation with and without respect to the two-dimensional flow field and the gravitational forces
results in a 3.15 times higher mass flow rate in the model without influence of the flow field. This
shows that the cross-section flow field and the gravitational forces have a considerable influence on
the results of the mass flow rate.
Figure 5. Distribution of the w-velocity.
5
The present model is used to consider the influence of the rotational speed, the oil viscosity, the gap
width and the helix angle on the oil mass flow rate. The results are normalized to the oil mass flow
rate of the basic version. The investigation of the influence of the several parameters on the friction
behaviour of the oil pump is not included in the following variations.
3.1. Rotational speed

The influence of the rotational speed of the compressor on the operation behaviour of the oil pump is a
very important detail in the design of variable speed compressors. Figure 6 shows the trend of the oil
mass flow rate over the rotational speed. The variation of the speed shows an approximately linear
dependency on the mass flow rate. Especially if the compressor runs at speeds below 2000 rpm for
longer periods, the design of the oil pump should be improved to avoid lubrication failures.
3.2. Oil viscosity

As shown in Figure 7, the oil mass flow rate decreases significantly at lower viscosity. With oil
viscosity over 8 cSt, which is used in the base calculation, an improvement in the efficiency of the oil
pump regarding the mass flow rate could be observed. Due to the strong dependence on the
temperature, the viscosity underlies significant variations during the compressor operation. Especially
during so called ‘Pull-Down’ cycles in which the thermal load on the compressor is very high, the oil
mass flow rate might decrease. The thermal behaviour of the compressor has a considerable impact on
the choice of the oil.
normalized mass flow rate
1.2
1.3
1.0
1.1
0.8
0.9
0.6
0.7
0.4
0.5 0.2
0.3 0.0
1000 2000 3000 4000 1 4 7 10 13
speed [rpm] viscosity [cSt]
Figure 6. Influence of the rotational speed on Figure 7. Influence of the oil viscosity on the oil
the oil mass flow rate. mass flow rate.
3.3. Gap width

The width of the gap between the rotational crankshaft and the stationary barrel wall shows an
approximately linear dependency on the oil mass flow rate (Figure 8). A smaller gap width results in a
higher value of the mass flow rate due to a stronger influence of the velocity difference of the two
parts on the velocity in channel direction. Also the higher mass flow rate in the gap at higher gap
widths has a negative effect on the oil pump mass flow rate because as the mass flow rate in gap
direction increases, the effective mass flow rate in channel direction decreases.
3.4. Helix angle

Another important influence factor on the pumping efficiency is the helix angle. The results of the
helix angle variation are shown in Figure 9. Based on the vector components of the relative velocity
between crankshaft and barrel wall, a smaller helix angle results in a higher velocity in channel
direction which has a direct impact on the oil mass flow rate. An increase of the helix angle of 10°
compared to the basic version has the same effect as a decrease of the rotational speed of about 2000
rpm.
6
1.2 4

1.1 3
1.0 2
0.9 1
0.8 0
0.07 0.09 0.11 0.13 20 30 40 50 60
gap width [mm] helix angle [°]
Figure 8. Influence of the gap width on the oil Figure 9. Influence of the helix angle on the oil
mass flow rate. mass flow rate.
3.5. Design variation

In order to show how to improve the pump efficiency for compressors which operate at low rotational
speed, a calculation of a version with 1500 rpm, gap width of 0.08 mm and helix angle of 25° was
carried out. Compared to the version without design variations, the mass flow rate can be increased
significantly. The normalized mass flow rate with this configuration is 1.7. An additional investigation
of the friction losses should be carried out to get a full evaluation of the design variation.
4. Conclusion
A numerical model for the investigation of the helical oil pump of a hermetic compressor for
household appliances is presented in this paper. The model is based on the governing equations of
motion which were adopted for the present problem. Compared to analytical models from published
literature, the present model is able to calculate the flow field in the channel at higher geometrical
resolution including the gap between the crank shaft and the barrel wall. The proposed model was
used to carry out a parameter variation. The influence of the rotational speed, the oil viscosity, the gap
width and the helix angle was investigated. An additional design variation was carried out to show the
possibility to increase the mass flow rate at lower rotational speed with a decrease of the gap width
and the helix angle.
The model can be used to rate design parameters of helical oil pumps at higher geometrical resolution
compared to analytical models but less effort compared to three-dimensional CFD simulations with
commercial tools as the time consuming meshing process is omitted. The influence of adjoining
pumping devices on the boundary conditions of the model and a validation of the energy consumption
of the pump will be explored in a future study.
7
Acknowledgements
This work has been carried out within the framework of ECO-COOL, a research project initiated and
funded by the FFG (Austrian Research Promotion Agency). Furthermore the authors particularly
acknowledge the technical support by Secop Austria GmbH, formerly ACC Austria GmbH and
Liebherr-Hausgeräte Lienz GmbH.
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Experimental Examination for Oil Pump System Using a Simplified Uncoupled Simulation
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[8] Versteeg H K and Malalasekera W 2007 An Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics
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Home Search Collections Journals About Contact us My IOPscience

Fluid Flow in the Oil Pumping System of a Hermetic Compressor

2015 IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 90 012028

Please note that terms and conditions apply.

Fluid Flow in the Oil Pumping System of a Hermetic

S Posch1, E Berger1, M Heimel1, J Hopfgartner1, R Almbauer1 and P Schöllauf2

Figure 1. The crankshaft with the integrated oil pumping system.

𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕2𝑢 𝜕2𝑢 𝜕2𝑢

Figure 3. The computational domain with boundary conditions.

Figure 4. Velocity field in the channel cross-section.

Figure 5. Distribution of the w-velocity.

3.1. Rotational speed

3.2. Oil viscosity

3.3. Gap width

3.4. Helix angle

normalized mass flow rate

3.5. Design variation

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